Finish strong. That’s solid advice for most things. But when writing persuasive marketing copy, the advice becomes explosive.
Most written marketing makes a powerful point, or a number of powerful points, but then fizzles out. The prospect is inspired to read past the powerful points. But when they reach the, fizzling-out copy, the impact on them is weakened. They go from hot to cold.
The key is to finish strong.
As Poynter’s Roy Peter Clark said: “Shakespeare did not write ‘The Queen is dead, my lord’. He wrote ‘The Queen, my lord, is dead'”.
By placing the emphatic word at the end of the sentence, the power of the overall message is greatly increased. It ends with a bang. That’s exactly the impact your marketing needs, in order to motivate your prospect, and compel them to take the next step; buy from you, call you, visit your store, make an enquiry, subscribe, etc.
Not just sentences
Finishing strong applies not only to your sentences. It equally applies to finishing the overall written marketing piece strong. This means making the last sentence in each paragraph as emphatic as possible, and the last paragraph itself, as emphatic as possible.
Think of it like this: You’re aiming for your words to build a crescendo of motivation, which inspires your prospect to take the next step.
What next?
Take a look at your written marketing and see if it finishes strong. Check the sentences, the paragraphs and the overall piece. If it doesn’t create a growing wave of desire, fix it. Otherwise you’ll continue to miss out on new sales or new clients. And none of us can afford that.